Thursday evening will feature a matchup between two teams who have each had dramatic turnarounds following poor finishes to their respective regular seasons.
On Thursday, 2-seeded Purdue (29-8,13-7 Big Ten) will face 11-seeded Texas (21-14, 9-9 SEC) with a trip to the Elite 8 on the line.
The Longhorns have been a surprising team through this tournament, originally fighting to even be in the tournament after being selected as a play-in team. They had lost five of their last six games heading into the tournament and were left as one of the last four.
Channeled the spirit of March in their play-in game, a game-winning shot by senior guard Tramon Mark allowed them to advance into the Round of 64.
Texas went on to win two more dramatic games as they upset No. 6-seeded BYU in the first round and 3-seeded Gonzaga in the second. Texas looks to be peaking at the right moment, and will be a team Purdue cannot overlook despite its poor regular season play.
The Longhorns second round game was sealed by none other than former-Boiler Cam Heide, who hit a shot-clock expiring three to put Texas up four and secured their spot in the Sweet 16.
The junior forward will be seeing his former Purdue teammates for the first time since leaving this past offseason. Heide has played a similar role for Texas as a lengthy forward who can shoot and play defense like he did for Purdue in the 2024-25 season, though in a starting spot this year.
Texas is led in scoring in the tournament by center Matas Vokietaitis, a 7-footer from Marijampole, Lithuania. He has scored 15, 23 and 17 in their past three March Madness games while tallying 33 combined rebounds during this span.
Vokietaitis proved his worth against one the country’s best big men in Gonzaga forward Graham Ike on Saturday, falling just one rebound short of a double-double while playing through the intense physicality that the two brought to the game.
The sophomore center will be a tough matchup for Purdue’s big men but Vokietaitis is typically limited to the paint, not having much of a jumper in his game.
The Longhorns also have an elite trio of guards, highlighted by junior guard Dailyn Swain. Swain averaged over 17 points-per-game this season but hasn’t shot the same volume in tournament play, scoring 14 or less in all three games.
Swain does lead Texas in almost every category, leading them in points, assists, rebounds and steals. He’s been an all-around impact player for the Burnt-Orange-and-White and he’ll likely be at the top of the gameplan for Purdue to limit.
Texas as a team has the 36-highest scoring offense, averaging nearly 83 points-per-game this year. The Longhorns shoot 56% from inside the arc, but only 35% from outside.
They are also a strong rebounding team averaging seven-more rebounds than opponents this season. The boards will need to be an area of focus for Purdue after they struggled on the glass against Miami, giving up double-digit offensive rebounds.
The Boilermakers will also need to make sure they can avoid foul trouble against a Longhorn team that is excellent at getting to the line. They’ve shot the eighth most free throws in the country this season, averaging 25 free throws per game. Albeit, in their past two they’ve only shot a combined 27 free throws, shooting a poor 44% from the line in the tournament.
The Longhorns do not have any glaring weaknesses and have been playing their best basketball of the year now, riding the hot hand into the Sweet 16. But if the Boilermakers can continue the strong play they’ve had this March, they could be just one game away from a trip to Indianapolis.
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